Menu

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

The Government is buying a fight that it will not win against ---

The Government seems to be resolute in its desire to take on the combined might of teacher unions, parents and many in the community who find the actions of this Government to be abhorrent when it comes to Education policy. They are determined to go down roads that have been long discredited by good research. Their aim is both ideological and fiscally driven.

This will culminate in putting education back many decades. The students will suffer and would-be teachers will make alternative decisions about what they wish to do with their lives. That the Government can’t see this is particularly worrying.

Meeting after meeting held by the NZEI is rejecting the latest proposals by the Government to put the power back with The Ministry when it comes to annual increments for primary teachers. We can be sure that PPTA will be addressing the same issue at some stage.

For those who think the issues that teachers have with the Government are mainly about money, I say think again. The conditions that both unions have fought so hard for, both to better resource schools and for the very best support we can have for teachers is a direct attack on the citizens of the future.

The battle is far from over and we can expect the teachers, parent groups and University spokespeople to ramp up the effort to try to make this Government see sense.

This is a golden opportunity for the alternative parties wishing to take control of the Treasury to come up with better policy. We cannot wait for the normal election cycle. We must see the ‘vision for the future’ planted now. Our kids are too precious and the highly skilled teachers must not be lost to other forms of employment or to overseas systems. Education in NZ is facing a crisis, driven by an ignorant Government and a Ministry that does their bidding.